To Fly Again
by fastrthnwind
Summary: Everything was going well after Pain's attack on Konoha. That is until a mysterious person came in with the intent of changing the life of one of the village's most talented ninja. Will have canon elements, but with a certain twist. Likely minimal to no romance. Rated T for Safety.
1. Chapter 1 Starting Anew

**I do not own Naruto. That is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Chapter 1 Starting Anew**

It was a busy day as the village of Konoha was in the middle of rebuilding itself after the invasion of Pain had completely destroyed it. Their savior, Naruto was amidst the people, using his shadow clones to further aid them in clearing the rubble and building temporary shelters and medical houses for the people to stay in and recuperate. With him was one of team Gai's members, Rock Lee, along with said team leader, who were using their great strength and stamina to help clear some of the larger pieces of debris. Their cries of 'YOUTH!' and 'Believe It!' could be heard from across the village, causing the other two members of team Gai to rub their temples in annoyance.

The other two members, Neji and Tenten were also helping wherever they could with their individual techniques, such as delivering medical supplies to the newly instituted hospital and searching the debris for any remaining people. Being part of team Gai enabled them to better tolerate the antics of their bowl cut wearing, green spandex-clad duo, but the recent addition of Naruto into the already boisterous group was really pushing the limits of their patience.

"Can those three be any louder?" Tenten asked in a weary voice as she shifted the rather large scroll on her back into place again.

Neji kept walking with a smirk on his face, "Well you wouldn't want to jinx us now, would you? I'm sure the village wouldn't be grateful to have to deal with any more unnecessary nuisances."

Tenten turned her head in response to this. "Oh, so the great Neji Hyuuga is superstitious now?" she fired back.

Neji's smirk only grew at the comment, but he chose to remain silent as they continued walking. This made Tenten scowl at him in annoyance. "And now he decides not to explain himself too? I swear, you can be just as big of a headache as they are at times with your 'I'm too cool for this' attitude"

There was still no response from the stoic Hyuuga, who kept to himself for the rest of their trip to the hospital in order to see Hinata.

He felt obligated to visit her whenever he wasn't on duty since he still felt guilty for what he had done to her in the past. It wasn't right for him to criticize her for being born in the main branch. She couldn't decide which family she would be born into. He also condemned her for being too weak just because she was extremely shy. It was just a part of who she was as a person. After Naruto had showed him that he could decide his own destiny, he had made efforts to rebuild his relationship with not just with the Main branch, but with Hinata as well, by occasionally sparring with her to help her with Gentle Fist training. She had made significant growth, and was able to hold her own against him for a little while. She even developed her own techniques such as her twin lion's fist, which she had used to temporarily overwhelm him during one of their sparring matches, and even used it to fight Pain, if even for a little while. It showed him just how much stronger she had become in the past few years.

While she may have survived against Pain's gruesome attacks, Neji still couldn't rid himself of the small pang of guilt that was constantly nagging him in the back of his mind for not being there to help her when she needed him the most. Neji, along with the rest of Team Gai, had been sent on a mission some time earlier and were about to take a break after completing it, when they realized that something bad was happening to the village and returned as quickly as possible. With him and the rest of the team there, he felt that they might have had better chances of surviving than if Hinata had gone solo, but still, he tried to keep reminding himself that there was nothing that he could do about it now, as it had all happened in the past.

Neji and Tenten recognized Shizune, Tsunade's personal assistant as well as the current head of the hospital, once they had arrived at their intended destination. She was administering medicine to an unfortunate shinobi who had several broken limbs. From the scrunched up look on the poor shinobi's face, the medicine was obviously not agreeing with his taste buds. Shizune recognized the two incoming shinobi as they were one of the few regulars that came to the hospital almost on a daily basis, and stood up to meet them after treating the injured shinobi.

"Greetings, Neji-san and Tenten-san," she greeted them with a courteous bow, "I presume you wish to see Hinata again?"

"Hai, Shizune-san, we would like to see her again with your permission," Neji replied with traditional Hyuuga politeness, while him and Tenten both bowed in return.

"Of course, Neji-san" she said happily. "You are always welcome to visit her. She is still resting in the same room as before. "

"Arigato, Shizune-san. We'll make sure not to bother her too much while she is recuperating." Neji replied and bowed again politely as they left to see Hinata.

They both walked silently through the halls until they came to Hinata's door. Neji opened the door slowly and as silently as possible, trying not to disturb the patient inside. To their surprise, Hinata was laying on the bed, waiting for them to enter. The sunlight coming in through the windows reflected off of her slightly pale skin. She turned to face them them and gave them a warm smile. They both noted, however, that she had her byakugan activated.

"Good afternoon Neji-san and Tenten-san," Hinata began quietly, "How are you today?"

Neji, while glad to see Hinata again, still expressed concern for his oversensitive cousin. "We are doing well Hinata-sama, but you shouldn't be using your byakugan now. It will slow the recovery process, and you need all the rest you can get to recover as soon as possible" He stated in a stern voice, arms crossed over his chest.

"O-oh, w-well, I thought that m-maybe I could practice some chakra control exercises while I was here. Besides, it's not like I can do anything else besides resting while I'm here, so I might as well make use of my time." Hinata replied again in a quiet voice, her smiling fading and her now deactivated eyes averting from his firm look.

Neji sighed and shook his head, his hard facial features softening slightly unbeknownst to him. He couldn't help but be reminded of how much Naruto had affected her. Though Naruto was completely oblivious to the significance of Hinata's reactions when he was around her, he was also somewhat oblivious as to how much he inspired her. She also reminded him of Lee when he was hospitalized after the preliminaries in the chuunin exams. Despite his injuries and the nurse's constant admonitions, he continued to train, unwavering in his nindo, or ninja way.

He looked back up at Hinata, "Even so, the quicker you recover, the faster you will be released, and the sooner you will be able to resume your training."

At this, Hinata seemed to be thinking for a moment as what Neji said sank in. Tenten came up this time to talk to her.

"Don't worry Hinata, at the rate you're recovering, you'll be out of here in no time at all!" She reassured her with a sincere smile.

Hinata looked to Tenten and gave her a small smile, "Hai, Tenten-san, I guess you're right. I'll be sure to rest up as much as possible."

"Now that's what we like to hear! As we all know, a nice, positive attitude helps to speed up the recovery," Tenten cheered happily. Neji simply nodded his approval of her words.

They began a short conversation afterwards about how the rebuilding projects were going in the village. While Hinata could see a small portion of the village through her window, and even more so with her byakugan, it wasn't enough to really see how well things were going in the entire village. Neji briefly informed her of Konoha's current state and how well the rebuilding projects were coming along. It was still far from being what it used to be now that the majority of the village was tucked inside a massive crater, but progress was still being made.

Once they were finished with their small discussion, Neji and Tenten decided to take their leave at that time in order to ensure that Hinata had plenty of rest. As they were leaving, they met Kiba and Shino, who happened to come across the hospital in their journey around the village and stopped in to wish their teammate a speedy recovery.

Neji and Tenten politely thank Shizune again for letting them see Hinata once more before heading their separate ways, Neji towards the somewhat rebuilt Hyuuga compound and Tenten to a small, but new apartment complex.

Along the way home, Neji pondered about how well things were looking for Konoha's future. Hopefully none of the other villages would catch wind of what had taken place in Konoha and try to take advantage of it when they were vulnerable, especially since their Hokage, Tsunade, was still in a coma. This led him to think how well the other Konoha forces would fare in any possible attack. While a good portion of the shinobi were injured, they could still hold a resistance effort if necessary to hold back the enemy to evacuate the villagers into shelters away from the village, though their ally's from Suna wouldn't be able to help due to how far away they were. This, in turn caused him to think about his own power. While he considered himself to be a fairly powerful shinobi, probably even second to Hiashi himself in the Hyuuga clan, he also thought about how well he could protect Hinata. He didn't even want to consider what would happen if she fell into the enemy's hands once more; he would never forgive himself if such an event took place. Not only that, but the Hyuuga elders would most likely punish him through his curse mark for not protecting the main heiress.

He unconsciously reached for its resting place slowly, gently placing his fingertips upon his hitai-ate. The clan's dreaded curse mark was the permanent brand of a slave, meant to keep the side branch members in check. He solemnly wished that the clan didn't have to go to such measures to protect the byakugan, but he knew that without the seal in place, other shinobi or kunoichi would be able to steal the byakugan and uncover its secrets with relative ease as they would simply need to court a branch member and wait for the right moment to ambush them once they were vulnerable. The visit with Hinata, however, helped to boost his resolve to protect her with his life, even if he did have doubts about his own power, and not just for her sake, but for his as well; he had no intentions to experience any of the possible scenarios that came to his mind.

Neji arrived at the smaller version of the compound late at night, where he immediately went to his quarters. There was more work to do tomorrow, and he needed all the energy he could get to help out once again with the rebuilding efforts.

* * *

As Neji entered his quarters, a man looked from several miles away in the distance. He knew that in order to make his plan work, he would have to be able to avoid all of those eyes that were no doubt constantly scanning the compound. A man with his abilities would no doubt be able to infiltrate any fortress, no matter how well built, but if he was caught by any of the wandering eyes, he would be dealing with the entire Hyuuga clan. Word would soon spread to the rest of the village about the assault, and he knew that it would be foolhardy to even consider trying to take on the entire village, let alone the powerful Hyuuga clan.

He needed an effective plan to bypass the legendary all-seeing eye, and he knew just the person who could help him out with this sort of situation. He would have to wait until tomorrow night to put his plan into effect, as he needed thorough preparation in order to pull off something as dangerous as this. With that in mind, he vanished into night, without a trace.

**Please R&R!**

**This is my first fanfiction, so any critisism is very wlecome.**


	2. Chapter 2 The Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. That is property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Chapter 2 The Calm Before the Storm**

Neji awoke early in the morning as he usually did when he went out to train with his team. However, this morning would be different, as he chose to meditate inside one of the silent rooms that the Hyuuga clan had made specifically for such practices, instead of the usual training grounds where he and the rest of his team usually room itself was rather wide and spacious compared to the other rooms so that many other Hyuugas could meditate as well; after all, it was one of the main components in training with the gentle fist style.

He took up a lotus position on the ground and relaxed his body as much as possible without causing his mind to doze off into a deep slumber. It was rather difficult when not listening to the antics of Gai-sensei and Lee and the 'thunking' sound of various kunai and shuriken that Tenten would embed into a target mere inches from his head. Nevertheless, he was able to enter a tranquil state of body and mind within a minute or so, feeling the chakra within the coils of his chakra network and how it flowed throughout his body at a consistent pace. He felt out each individual tenketsu within his body and mentally forced his chakra to slowly emanate from said points, creating a small barrier around him not unlike what he had done in his fight with the Sound-nin, Kidomaru.

This advanced chakra manipulation technique enhanced his already impressive sensory capabilities to a greater extent by allowing him to "feel" anything that came within the chakra-barrier and to manipulate it to a certain extent with the released chakra. While this technique was very chakra consuming if used extensively, Neji had figured a way to use it without expending so much chakra by completely halting the discharge of any chakra that wasn't within the radius of his blind spot.

It was a method that he himself had created in order to further reduce the amount of chakra that he would be wasting if he ever needed to use such a technique again. He sincerely hoped that he would never have to use it, but he knew from his fight with Kidomaru that he could never be too careful about protecting the doujutsu's one weakness. His dependence on it could potentially be his downfall if anyone ever found out about it.

Through the comforting silence, he heard someone walking into the room after some time had passed and activated his byakugan to examine who the intruder was. He found it to be none other than the clan head, Hiashi Hyuuga, who watched on in curiosity as Neji slowly diminished the release of chakra until it was flowing freely again within his chakra network, deactivated his byakugan, and stood up to greet him.

"Good morning, Neji", he addressed firmly

"Greetings, Hiashi-sama", Neji bowed in return, keeping his head bowed slightly in respect to his elder.

Hiashi cleared his throat before continuing, "I have heard that Hinata is nearly finished recovering from her injuries and will be discharged from the hospital sometime today. While I would like to continue her training myself, I have several important meetings to attend today with the other clan heads in the Council. I would like for you to temporarily take over her recovery training as her mentor in my stead once she is released, so that she will be able to resume her normal exercises afterwards. Do you understand?"

Neji nodded slightly, "Hai, Hiashi-sama, I will personally supervise Hinata's recovery training in your place so that she may continue with her usual, daily training."

"Very well, then. I will return sometime later in the evening to check up on her progress," Hiashi replied approvingly.

"As you wish Hiashi-sama", Neji bowed once more as the clan head left him to his own devices. He was relieved to know that Hinata would finally be released today, and decided to head to the training grounds to meet his team members before goingout to see her.

He met the team where they usually trained in the morning, though their sensei, Gai was nowhere to be seen. He was probably challenging team seven's sensei, a.k.a. Gai's self-proclaimed eternal rival, Kakashi, to another one of their ridiculous competitions. Lee and Tenten, on the other hand, seemed to be conversing rather loudly about something that he considered rather trivial.

"YOSH! TENTEN! Your YOUTHFULLNESS will EXPLODE if you considered training with these new weights that Gai-sensei designed for us!" Lee shouted quite exuberantly, holding up a pair of weights that were very similar to the ones underneath his leg warmers while simultaneously holding out a thumbs-up in his trademark "nice-guy" pose.

Tenten chose to closed her eyes and calmly stated her opinion on the matter, "What purpose would there be in training with these weights if,the majority if the time, I'm going to be using my weapons to fight from a distance?"

Lee's eyes lit up with excitement at this comment, "Tenten, you could use these YOUTHFUL weights on your arms to increase your already incredibly throwing speed and force of impact!"

"But it could ruin my accuracy if I'm not able to use my arm as freely as before! Besides, why would I need to improve upon those areas? They're my strongest points!" Tenten shot back.

If possible, Lee's eyes literally started spouting flames, "If that is the case, Tenten, then you should wear them on your legs like me and train with me and Gai-sensei to hone your close-range taijutsu skills!"

At this, Tenten contorted her face in aversion, "There is NO way that I am going to train with you two lunatics with your insane training methods! Also, I believe that sparring with you and Neji all the time would have improved my taijutsu skills to be considered _at least_ slightly better than average. Don't you think so too Neji?"

Neji sighed silently at Tenten's attempt to include him the conversation. She probably thought that an answer from him would silence the youth-obsessed individualabout the topic-though in some cases she was usually right. He decided to simply reply with his usual response to matters such as this, "Hn."

"See even Neji agrees with me." Tenten stated matter-of-factly, "Now could we please drop the subject? We should start helping to rebuild the village again sometime soon. We wouldn't want to let Tsunade-sama down by slacking off when the village needs us the most." Tenten gave a determined look and confidently placed her over-sized scroll on her back to begin the trek back to the Konohagakure.

Lee quickly bounced up in attention and gave his trademark nice-guy pose. "YOSH! Tenten is right! We need to head back and lend the village our YOUTHFULNESS!"

"Ugh, you don't have to put it like that, you know," Tenten said glumly, slouching at Lee's comment, her sudden burst ofconfidence and determination quickly vacating her morose body.

As they walked onwards, Neji decided to tell her about the recent news, "This might bring some wind back into your sails again. I've been recently informed that Hinata will be discharged from the hospital sometime this afternoon."

Tenten turned Neji and smiled, her whole demeanor changing completely after hearing the good news, "Really? Wow, that's great Neji! I'd have to say that she recovered pretty quickly after a few weeks. I would have expected her to be there few at least a month or so. In any case, who told you the news?"

"Actually, it was my uncle Hiashi who informed me," Neji said with a small smile on his face, "He apparently wants me to supervise her recovery training so that she can resume her regular training again as soon as possible, though I'm confident that she would be completely finished by the end of today. She is a very goodkunoichi after all."

"That must be quite an honor for him to have asked that of you," Tenten said, walking along again in high spirits.

Neji replied confidently "I must say that it was. Hiashi-sama has never given me a task of this importance before. My ties with the main branch are definitely much stronger now than it has ever been in the past. Anyways, I was wondering if you would accompany me to see Hinata like you did yesterday. I plan on leaving earlier today so that we can see her once she is released."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. I'm down with it," Tenten said in a casual manner.

The team continued onwards, though Lee was determined to turn the journey into the village a training session as usual, "Neji! Tenten! Let us put our youthful bodies on the line by making thi-"

"NO" they both responded simultaneously.

This didn't discourage their jovial teammate as he crouched on the ground anyways in preparation, "Alright then, I shall make it into the village in 3 minutes flat, or I will do 500 laps around Konoha…on my hands! Ready….GOOOOOOOO!" Lee rushed on ahead at his usual alarming speed, leaving a large trail of dust in his wake.

Though they both figured he would make the trip in time at that rate, Lee always managed to do something that would make him do even more of his ridiculous training regimes-maybe even reward himself for making it on time by doing his training anyways.

Neji and Tenten continued on at their own casual pace, enjoying the comfortable silence of their own company until they reached the center of the bustling village, where they put their talents, once again, to good use.

Several hours had passed by, and Neji and Tenten had decided to head out in the direction of the hospital. It was around noon at this time of day with the sun already high in the sky.

The hospital was still busy as usual inside with medic-nins assisting the sick and wounded. Despite the amount of nurses present, however, Shizune was nowhere to be found. Neji activated his byakugan and searched the building for her, but found no trace of her in the inside.

"Excuse me Neji-san, I believe you're looking for Hinata-san?" came a voice from several meters in front of him. There, holding a small package, was the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura, from team seven, who gave them a wide smile before walking towards them.

"Well, you probably don't even need to look for her with your byakugan activated, right? I'm guessing that you've already found her somewhere around this place," she said, looking around the room as if she was looking for Hinata herself.

Neji smirked slightly at her light-hearted comment, "Hai, you are correct Sakura-san, I have already found Hinata-sama, though she wasn't the one I was actually looking for."

"Oh? And who might that be?" Sakura inquired further.

"Shizune-san, of course," was Neji's answer. "I just wanted to know if there were any conditions that I needed to know about Hinata-sama before they released her."

Sakura smiled a bit, "Actually, Shizune told me inform you of anything else pertaining to Hinata's conditions. So far there aren't any that we know of, but she has instructed me to give this medicine to her."

She handed the box to Neji, who gazed at it with his byakugan. It contained several vials filled with a bluish-green liquid.

"It's an anti-inflammatory that will help ease any pain that may occur from the injured area. She will need to drink half a bottle twice a day; once in the morning and once in the evening. If she wants to, she can mix it with some herbal tea to drown out the taste, so long as she drinks it all down. You can start her doses this evening and continue until all of the vials are empty. If there are any questions or concerns or if there are any emerging symptoms from taking the medicine, then you can let either me or Shizune-san know about it," Sakura instructed them with practiced ease.

Neji bowed in return, deactivating his byakugan while he did so, "Arigato, Sakura-san. I'll be sure to give it to her as well as remind her to take it when she needs the way, why isn't Shizune-san present today? She is usually here all of the time."

Sakura paused for a moment to think, "I believe that there have been some recent developments concerning Tsunade-sama's condition, and her presence was requested. I'm here temporarily to fill her position while she's gone."

Tenten's eyes widened in shock, "You mean that she's gonna wake up sometime soon?" Her face was brimming with anticipation and hopefulness.

"Well, were not actually sure when she'll wake up, but, if I do remember correctly, she was beginning to respond to some the doctor's stimulation techniques, so it's possible that she might wake up sometime within about a week or so," Sakura answered confidently.

Tenten was literally glowing with happiness and relief upon learning that her idol was still alive and would possibly make a full recovery. The village would probably brighten a bit as well once they heard about the update in her condition; after all, they, nor were the rest of the shinobi exactly thrilled to learn that the Council was already considering Danzo Shimura for the Hokage position.

Neji spoke again to Sakura, "We shall be take our leave now Sakura-san. I wish you well on your duties."

"Alright then, I'll see ya guys later," came the more informal response from Sakura.

Both parties then went their separate ways. Neji and Tenten found Hinata in the same room, waiting for them to pick her up.

"I hope we weren't too late in our arrival Hinata-sama," Neji said to her in.

"It's ok, I'm ready to go home now", Hinata insisted. That being said, they left the the way back to the Hyuuga compound, Neji explained to Hinata about the medicine and about his given task to supervise her recovery training. She nodded in understanding, having nothing left to say in exchange. The group continued the rest of the trip in relative quiet, though both Naruto's and Lee's lively shouting still filled the air with a cacophony of "YOUTH!" and "Believe it!"

Shizune glanced at Tsunade one last time before heading out that evening. Her pet pig, TonTon, was lying next to her in while she slept, distraughtover her master's unconsciousness. Deep down she hoped that Tsunade's condition would continue to improve to the point of awakening, though even in this stage, some patients could stay like this for the rest of their lives. Though, it couldn't hurt to be a bit optimistic about the situation, could it?

Meanwhile, a certain person was keeping a close watch from a safe distance where he couldn't be detected by enemy sensors. His target was inside the medical tents and had been in there for some time. There were too many guards around for him to simply walk in and ambush her, though even a direct confrontation alone would still be dangerous. She was still a capable fighter, even if she was simply a decided that the best way to do this would be a simple hit-and-run tactic. It was a rather crude plan and on-the-spot, but he couldn't risk being captured by the enemy, and time was running short for him. It was either now or never.

Using as much caution and stealth as possible, he melded away into the trees, reappearing from the ground near the entrance a few seconds later. As far as he could tell, none of the ninja inside had been alerted by his presence, which meant he was doing well so far. He heard footsteps approaching his direction and prepared himself for what he had to do. He quietly waited beside the entrance, his back pressed against the canvas wall to further conceal his presence. The tent flap opened and he reached for the kunoichi's mouth…

Shizune was just opening the flap of the tent when a hand came out of nowhere and clasped against her mouth, effectively stifling the scream that was ready to rip from her throat and cutting off her air supply. Another hand gripped her wrist and twisted it behind her back in one quick motion. She was pulled from away from the tent opening; her legs and torso were already bound in place by some sort of claw-like snare that was coming from behind her. She tried hitting the assailant with her free hand, but the hand that had been pinning her own against her back had been placed on her mouth and the other hand had caught it as well, leaving her other hand pinned between their bodies. Both of her hands were imprisoned, but everything in her body was screaming for her to keep fighting.

She suddenly felt her chakra being drained from her body, and that her strength was fading quickly. Her struggles gradually began to slow, her vision starting to blur and her thoughts became less focused. She was panicking by then and redoubled her efforts to escape-she didn't want to die right here in front of Tsunade when help was only a few seconds away! She did the only thing that came to her mind and prayed that the sensors inside the tent were still doing their job. She gathered every ounce of chakra remaining in her body and spiked it as high as she could make it go without passing out from exhaustion. Apparently the assailant had felt it as well, and thought it would be appropriate at that time to retreat back into the forest, leaving Shizune to fall abruptly to the ground.

Moments later, several ANBU Black Ops had arrived on the scene, weapons at the ready. Two were helping Shizune regain her balance while the rest began searching the forest in the immediate area.

"Are you alright ma'am?" asked a male ANBU who wore the mask of a primate.

She could hardly talk through her rapid gasps for air-the struggle was quite intense and she was tired from the physical strain and having her chakra drained, "I…I think so…."

"Did you see what the attacker looked like at all? Any description or distinctive characteristics you can think of at all would be of great use to us right now," the same ANBU inquired.

Shizune though back to the fight, in the evening light she could make out that the hands that grabbed her were rather pale and clammy, which was unusual, of course. Any regular shinobi would keep their cool during most situations, especially when they had the upper hand in a fight.

"His body was… pale in color. I couldn't… see anything else….besides that." She gasped, still trying to catch her breath.

"Alright then, I'll have someone take a look at you and-"

"No… that won't be necessary," Shizune cut him off, nearly finished catching her breath, "Just focus on… finding the person responsible. I'll head back to notify the other shinobi of what happened."

"With all due respect ma'am, you're in no condition to be doing anything right now," explained the other, female ANBU who wore a Neko mask.

"I'm fine now! With your squad patrolling the area, I won't even need an escort back!" she exclaimed rather loudly.

Though Primate was about to restrain her, Neko held up a hand in response. "Alright then, we'll let you go for now, though if we locate and capture the perpetrator, we will need your assistance in confirming his identity."

Shizune nodded in agreement, "Hai, fair enough, then." She hurriedly leapt up into the trees withouthesitation to warn the other shinobi of the urgent matter.

Little did they know that the aforementionedperpetrator was long gone; not even a trace was left behind that could be used totrack his whereabouts. The plan was going smoothly for now. The next phase would be a cake walk in comparison to that last skirmish. He sported an awfully wide smile on his usually passive face. This was his favorite part, and he was going to have plenty of fun doing it.

**AN: Again please R&R! Thats what helps to keep me writing!**


	3. Chapter 3 Unforseen Occurrences

**Once again, I don't own Naruto. That is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Chapter 3 Unforeseen Occurrences**

"Keep your posture steady and loosen up your wrists. Always remember to keep the outside foot away from the pivotal foot to keep your balance and to quicken your spinning motions."

Neji was helping Hinata to master the main stances and postures again after being inactive for quite a period of time.

"Now let us do this again. This time, try to flow with my movements as I am attacking you, you'll find that doing so will make it easier to find an opening to counterattack." Neji slid into his usual offensive position with one arm outstretched with his outside leg, the palm facing Hinata, and the other arm behind him near his inside leg, but still close to his body. Hinata took up a similar stance; though her arm that was near the inside leg was more to the front of her body for a greater defensive form.

Neji didn't even give a warning when he struck out with his outstretched arm to attack her. Hinata brushed it to the side with her inside arm and tried to deliver a blow to with her other palm. Neji pushed off of his inside leg to move in closer while slightly pivoting on his other leg and leaning his upper body to the side, using his closer palm to brush the blow away from him while simultaneously using his other arm to strike several points along her arm where her tenketsu would have been. Taking advantage of his position, Neji deftly spun around behind her, where he could give a few palm thrusts to her back. Hinata then spun around counterclockwise on her inside heel and brought down her arm from above to block the incoming palm with her left arm and brought her right arm up to deliver an attack from below. Neji used his left hand to guide her arm up away from him and found an opening to attack. He proceeded to land several quick precise jabs from her abdomen to her shoulder followed by a palm thrust to her other shoulder.

Hinata staggered back momentarily from the force of the attack, but regained her composure. It was a good thing for her that this was just training. If those jabs had injected any chakra into her, she would have lost a great amount of feeling in her right side.

"Your attacks are too slow, and that creates openings in your defenses. Your footwork is a little better and allows you to maneuver around an opponent's attacks , but your arms are what allow you to redirect your opponent's attacks, instead of simply avoiding them, while giving you the opportunity to strike as well," Neji continued drilling to her and pointed out several other flaws in her fighting style as they resumed sparring.

At one point, Hinata was able to land a decent palm thrust to Neji's gut, though he insisted that her wrists were still too stiff upon impact.

"A loosened wrist will allow for several consecutive strikes in one attack," Neji demonstrated to her with his own palm as he thrust against her lower right hip and her upper left shoulder in one fluid movement, "The more attacks made, the less time the opponent has to find an opening to counter."

"H-hai", was Hinata's stuttered response. She knew that she was still a bit sloppy, especially from being inactive for some time, but the only way to improve was to continue training. While Neji was a bit strict like her father, he was actually a very good teacher, and she enjoyed sparring with him occasionally.

Tenten was sitting on a tree branch only a few meters away from their training area, observing the sparring session. She had to admit that Hinata was doing quite well, despite being out of practice for so long. She couldn't get in many blows, but anything that reached him was still somewhat impressive to her, considering that Neji was a prodigy of the Hyuuga clan and very well versed in their Gentle Fist taijutsu. She had been given prior permission by one of the Hyuuga elders to observe Neji and Hinata practice the elaborate movements and graceful spinning that comprised of the famous Gentle Fist style. It wasn't often that they let strangers into their home, but they were willing to make an exception for her since she was Neji's teammate and a good friend of Hinata.

Tenten had been observing them for several hours and noticed the sun was setting in the distance. She decided that it would probably be best if she left for home.

She turned to the two sparring Hyuugas, "Hey, Neji, I'm gonna head home now. I'll see you two tomorrow!"

Neji seamlessly glided out of his fight with Hinata and turned to his bun-headed teammate. "Alright then, I wish you a good night Ten-ten."

Hinata also responded in a similar fashion, though a bit more timidly than her more confident cousin. Tenten bid them both farewell with a simple wave of her hand, and left in a puff of smoke. Neji took it upon himself to activate his byakugan and proceeded to watch her for as far as its range of vision allowed him to see her. It was more of a courteous gesture to make sure that her journey home was safe. While watching her leave, he also noticed Hiashi coming in through the compound gates, no doubt returning to check upon Hinata's progress as he said he would. He deactivated his doujutsu and fell back into his stance.

"Let us resume our training Hinata-sama," Neji said politely. Hinata nodded and imitated his stance.

It wasn't long before Hiashi sauntered regally out to where they were practicing. As he approached the two, they stopped their sparring and turned to bow to him. Hiashi addressed them in his usual tone, though his face was more passive than usual,

"Good evening, Neji and Hinata."

They both responded respectfully in unison, "Good evening Hiashi-sama/oto-sama."

Hiashi turned to Neji "I have come to check on Hinata's progress. How is she faring so far?"

"While her overall form is a bit stiff- which is expected after being in the hospital for some time- she is still capable of holding her own for short while. Her chakra control is still intact, and her vision with the byakugan is still sharp. She has made great progress, and I expect that she will be able to return to her usual exercises in by tomorrow." Neji reported honestly.

"I see…." Hiashi was about to finish, but activated his byakugan at that moment.

"Were you expecting to meet someone here this evening?" He asked, his firm voice laced with curiously.

Neji activated his byakugan and was surprised to see Shizune waiting patiently outside the compound gates. It was getting rather late, though he believed that whatever reason she was her must've been important.

"I am under the impression that she is here to see us, Hiashi-sama. Should we let her in?" Neji voiced his thoughts calmly. Hiashi turned his focus on the two Hyuuga guards who were stationed outside the gates and waved his hand in the air, signaling the two to let her in. They complied immediately, opening the gates to let her in. One of the nearby branch members came to escort her from the entryway where they offered to seat her in preparation to meet the clan head.

Hiashi turned leave, "Come. We shall be meeting with our guest momentarily."

As the Hyuuga relatives came into the room, Shizune stood and bowed in formally, the Hyuugas returning the bow.

"Good Evening, Hiashi-sama. I'm sorry if I have inconvenienced you in any way."

Neji noticed that Shizune seemed rather uncomfortable when addressing the clan head, though who wouldn't be with his intimidating and commanding presence. She was speaking to the highest ranking aristocrat within Konoha.

"That may depend on the reason for your visit. It is rather late right now and I must be departing in a few minutes to deal with other important affairs," he replied in his usual, frigid tone. His gaze was hard and penetrating, even without his byakugan activated.

"O-oh, well," Shizune had briefly lost her composure, but gained it again after a moment, "The reason that I am here is that I came to check up on Hinata. I wasn't able to see her today in the hospital, and I wanted to make sure that she hadn't developed any problematic symptoms."

Hiashi looked at Hinata for a moment and returned to Shizune, "Very well, you may examine her for any abnormal symptoms. We have a room just down the hall to the left that you may use if you wish. I will have Neji be your escort around the grounds."

Shizune's composed face showed a small trace of relief as he left the three to attend other matters that likely didn't concern them. The group remained quiet until they knew that his slightly overwhelming presence had passed.

Neji was the one to break the awkward silence that had come over them, "Alright then, I will show you to the examination room."

The room's interior was not unlike the rest of the Hyuuga compound; though small, the walls were coated ivory and there were several wooden tables and mats in the center with several scrolls placed on top, which were used to teach the clan members about the chakra circulatory system.

Shizune had Hinata sit on one of the tables and began checking her vitals. It didn't take her very long as she finished within a few minutes and was already questioning her about any symptoms that she may have had during the past 24 hours. Hinata replied that she had felt some soreness around the main injury site, but nothing else other than that.

"I remember that you had Sakura-san deliver us some anti-inflammatory medicine," Neji said as turned to leave left the room, "I'll go brew some green tea for her to take with it like you instructed."

"Umm…yes, arigato, Neji. That would probably be helpful at the moment," was Shizune's reply.

As Neji walked towards the kitchen he couldn't help but notice that something was a bit off about the way Shizune was behaving. Even without his byakugan, his great perceptual abilities told him that she seemed rather unsure of herself, something that was a bit out-of-character for an experienced medical-ninja. It wasn't like her to be so nervous around any of the Hyuugas, even if she wasn't used to dealing with higher-class society.

He grabbed the medicine box from its resting place inside a cabinet near the kitchen and proceeded to boil some hot water in a kettle. He opened the box and carefully poured the contents into a measuring glass, making sure that he drained at least half of the vial before pouring it into a tea-cup that was conveniently set out on the counter. He finished brewing the tea, set it on a portable table, and went back to the room where Hinata and Shizune were waiting patiently.

Back in the room, Hinata was listening to Shizune as she instructed her not to exert herself too much or the healing process would begin to reverse itself. Neji came into the room with the tea and served Hinata the hot liquid.

"A-arigato Neji-san," she took a sip of the medicinal mixture. It was apparently good tasting as Hinata smiled softly and began lightly drinking in more of it.

Shizune smiled good-naturedly, "Well, I'm glad that you're enjoying it. Anyways, I shall be taking my leave then. Tsunade-sama still needs to be looked after." She then turned to Neji, "Before I go, may I have a word with you in private?"

Neji, while curious and slightly suspicious, obliged her with a casual look. "If you wish. Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no nothing's wrong, I just needed to speak with you for a minute about something. Is there any way for you us to …you know…have a conversation without anyone seeing us? It's kind of confidential," Shizune asked a bit awkwardly.

"Even confidential to the clan head, Hiashi-sama?" Neji perked up an eyebrow at this. Usually anything that was confidential was reported directly to Hiashi himself, "Although he is away at the moment, you could always come back and report to him when he returns."

"Well, yes, actually it is. As a matter of fact it's about something that happened in the village. Here, let's take this outside for right now." Shizune took Neji's hand in hers and led him back outside through the gates, leaving Hinata to sip quietly on the medicinal drink by herself.

Once they had walked several minutes away from the compound did Shizune release her grip in Neji's hand and turn to explain herself.

"I believe that there is a spy among us right now. I was recently attacked right outside of the fifth's own tent and barely got away with my life. I don't want this to go around however, so I am coming to you because I can trust you and your abilities with the byakugan to help me find the culprit."

The sudden news left Neji even more curious and suspicious than before. "Why not report this to the Ninja Council and have everyone on high alert? Or even directly to Hiashi-sama for that matter? It's definitely important enough to discuss with him."

"Like I said earlier I didn't want too many people to know since the spy might be among them in disguise. He could be trying to tail me for all I know. So please, Neji, we need to talk about this someplace where no one can eavesdrop on us." Shizune gave Neji a pleading look to accompany her request.

Neji took a moment to absorb her words. She seemed convincing, but her behavior was a bit off. Was it possible that she was the culprit herself? He activated his byakugan, careful as to how she would react to him doing so. She didn't move even as Neji carefully observed her chakra signature. Her chakra flow was not irregular like it would be if she was using a henge jutsu. Actually, it was relatively calm as it usually was, despite her slight nervousness. Everything checked out OK to him, so she couldn't be the infiltrator in disguise, though it wouldn't hurt to be a bit cautious, just in case.

"Alright then. I'll take us somewhere else more private." Neji turned and jumped into the trees, his byakugan still active, Shizune remaining close to him the entire trip. It was at least fifteen minutes of fast-paced tree-hopping until Neji lead them into a vacant clearing just outside of the village walls. The closest people to them were well out of sight of his byakugan.

"We are well outside of even the greatest known range of the byakugan," he stated calmly, arms folded across his chest, "Now, what is it about this spy that you are interested in discussing so privately with me? If you want me to find him for you, I will need some details as to what he looked like as well as what type of jutsus he uses if possible."

"I'm not exactly sure what he looked like since he was behind me the entire time, but he was very pale-skinned and possessed an unusual trapping jutsu that I have never seen before in my life," Shizune said, though her focus was not on him, but rather everywhere else as if making sure that they were alone.

"There is nothing to worry about, we are alone out here, at least for the moment anyways. There is no one out there close enough to eavesdrop or observe our conversation." Neji reassured her. His byakugan constantly scanning the area for any suspicious activity. So far there was none that he was aware of.

"OK then, I guess this is good enough." Shizune's posture relaxed completely. It was then that Neji noticed a small disturbance in the air around them and an unfamiliar presence made its appearance out of nowhere just a few feet beside Shizune.

Neji immediately backpedaled a few feet, his body already falling into the signature Hyuuga fighting stance. This was impossible! How could someone evade detection from the near 360 degree view of the byakugan?

As the shadowy figure completely materialized in front of him, Neji turned to Shizune only to realize that she was slowly transforming into a completely pale-skinned, green-haired creature whose limbs and torso resembled venus flytraps. Even this…plant…thing…whatever it was, had somehow managed to fool the byakugan's incredible sensory capabilities! He was in the middle of an ambush with absolutely no backup, something that he thought would never happen to someone like him.

The mysterious hooded figure approached him slowly, hands raised in a non-threatening manner. The person pulled back his hood to reveal a strangely designed, orange-colored mask with only a single eye-hole from which a fully matured sharingan shone forebodingly. Neji also noticed that his chakra was just as unusual as his jutsu, noting its slightly ominous nature in accordance with the person's presence.

The masked man spoke to him plainly, revealing his identity to the bewildered Hyuuga prodigy, "I am Madara Uchiha. I have been waiting for you."

**AN: Well here you have it! My third Chapter! If any of you have read my profile, then you would know that if you viewers leave enough reviews, then I will post another chapter earlier along with my weekly updates! **

**So those of you who want to read more will have to leave some comments about the chapter! ;)**

**Again, Please R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4 Revelations

**I do not own Naruto. That is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Chapter 4 Revelations**

This couldn't be right. This man standing in front of Neji, was claiming to be the notorious, world renowned Madara Uchiha. He died several centuries before by the hand of the First Hokage himself.

"No, you can't be him. He's been dead for centuries now, killed by the First Hokage himself. Who are you really?" Neji demanded. Though he was relatively calm at the moment despite his current predicament, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of uncertainty about this man's identity. This man was able to completely bypass the all-seeing byakugan, a feat that no other ninja has ever managed to accomplish.

"Neji, I only want to talk to you." The masked man continued, the full moon casting a deep shadow over his mask, making him seem even more menacing. However, Neji remained unwavering in his fighting position. He refused to believe that this man could be Madara Uchiha. Even if he was, what could he possibly want with a branch member of the Hyuuga clan?

"What is it that you want from me?" He demanded, his tone less threatening, but still retaining its firmness.

"There is something that I must tell you about your clan. It has actually been kept secret from you and many of the other members for a long time now." The man began slowly walking towards him, the other creature following him as he grew closer to Neji's position.

"However, I cannot talk to you here. There are likely more people who could be heading this way at any time. After all, I believe the ANBU are still searching for our friend, Zetsu, here." The man/plant creature smiled a toothy grin.

"Those ANBU shinobi couldn't catch me even if they had me in chains," Zetsu responded in a light, but annoyingly creepy voice. At that moment, several more Zetsu-like creatures emerged from the trees around the clearing, completely surrounding him.

"Come, there is much that I must tell you." The masked man, now only a few meters away, reached out with a dark-gloved hand.

"I'm not going anywhere," Neji stated resolutely. He leaped back several feet behind him, landing with one shoulder facing the self-proclaimed legend and the other towards the trees.

"Hakke Kusshou!" Thrusting both arms out to his sides, Neji hurled a blast of concussive force towards the Zetsu besides the masked man and the closest one blocking his way out through forest. Both Zetsus caught off guard by the speed of the technique were immediately sent flying through the air, collapsing into a pile of white gunk on the ground a good 20 meters away.

Neji took this time to escape, throwing several kunai at the Zetsu near him that tried to pounce on him before hopping into the woods and deftly moving through tree branches. Though the Zetsu tried to follow him, their speed was no match for his. His speed was quite impressive due to his training under his sensei's tutelage and was able to put a good amount of distance between him and the Zetsu following him as well as that mysterious masked man. After several minutes of intense jumping, he had completely lost sight of them. It was then that he saw a familiar figure approaching his location.

"Neji-san!" Hinata called out to him. Apparently she had taken it upon herself to follow him outside, while keeping her presence hidden to both the disguised Zetsu and himself.

"Hinata-sama! What are you doing out here?" Neji didn't want to involve Hinata into this mess, but it seemed like she thought otherwise.

"W-WelI, I couldn't just let you go out in the m-middle of the night by yourself. I-I believe that it's important that we stay together, no matter what happens." Hinata responded timidly. "B-by the way, w-who are those people anyway? T-that man in the mask looked like the man I saw before from the akatsuki. Did they hurt you?"

"No, it's ok, I'm fine. You should head back to the compound Hinata-sama. I don't want you to end up getting hurt worse than you already are. After all, you're still recovering from that last injury." Neji reminded her , though he also didn't want to be responsible if anything did happen to her. He couldn't even bear to think about if something happened to Hinata and he was the cause of it.

"B-but-"

"No buts Hinata," Neji's voice was hard and demanding, "I want you to head back right now and let me and the rest of the shinobi handle this." It wasn't like Neji not to use honorifics or to order her around, but he had to let her know how serious he was taking this, and that it was his job as a branch member to protect her at all costs.

Hinata was taken aback for a moment, but replied with a quiet, "H-Hai, Neji-san," and broke away from him towards the compound.

Neji kept rushing ahead towards the center of the village, the lights only several hundred meters away where he could find some help. If he could make it to the middle of the crater, then they had a chance to drive away the intruder.

However, luck didn't seem to be with Neji as the masked man suddenly appeared again out of thin air just in front of him, causing him to stumble off of the branch he just landed on and fall to the ground. He corrected himself mid-fall and landed semi-gracefully on his feet. The masked man was already there to meet him on the ground. What kind of jutsu does this guy use? He was sure that he left him in his wake back outside the village walls! Not only that, he was only a mere 15 meters from the crater hole where people could see them!

"There is much that you don't realize about your own clan. I have known their secrets for some time now, waiting for the chance to talk to you about it, but you were always accompanied by your teammates, making it difficult to catch you alone. Therefore, I had to trick you into coming to me."

Neji knew that there was nothing that his clan kept from him besides the truth of his own father's death, and even then they told him eventually when the time was right. He faced the masked man once more, his byakugan still actively reading his chakra network and watching his every move. What more could his own clan be hiding? "There is nothing that my clan hides from me. I have long since been freed from the chains that they held me in."

The masked man didn't even hesitate in responding. "Is that really so? Then why is it that you still bear the mark of the caged bird on your forehead?"

"To keep the byakugan from falling into enemy hands and protect the clan's bloodline of course," Neji answered confidently.

"Have you ever considered that they kept it on you because they still don't fully trust you, even though you have demonstrated your utmost loyalty to your clan and have shown yourself to be the most talented of them all? Even your own father was born from the main branch yet was cast into the side branch after you were born just because he was born last, despite being as powerful as his older twin."

At this new realization, Neji's cool and confident expression furrowed into one of confusion. Though he was right about his father being born into the main branch and about Neji's being gifted with the greatest talent in the clan, he couldn't believe that his clan didn't trust him. After all, they have him protecting the next heir to the clan, his own cousin, Hinata.

"You're wrong. The Hyuuga clan does trust me. I am entrusted to protect their most precious asset, the heir to the clan head, Hinata Hyuuga. Also, the curse seal itself can only be removed through death."

"And you believe that is the height of their trust? Neji, if they trusted you, they would have long since done away with your curse mark and allowed you to become a part of the main branch. Certainly the one who created the seal must know how to remove it. There are still things that the Hyuuga clan are keeping from you just so that you wouldn't turn on them and lose their trust. After all, you are their most prized shinobi. It would be a waste if they had to kill you once you learned the truth about your own clan."

Neji glared back at him coolly, "How would you know if they kept any secrets? You're not even a Hyuuga!"

"Because I was there when it happened."

Neji huffed softly in slight frustration, " None of what you say makes any sense. I am wasting my time conversing with the likes of you, who doesn't know what he's even talking about," Neji lowered into his fighting stance again.

The masked man sighed deeply. "You don't even know the half of it."

Neji thrust his inside palm out to him, "Hakke Kusshou!" A blast of compressed air and chakra was launched at him, but when the jutsu had hit the intended target, the man didn't even budge. Instead a loud booming sound could be heard as the blast of air sailed through him and hit a tree trunk directly behind him, displacing a decent chunk of wood from the base.

"How…?" Neji was absolutely stunned. The attack hit the target head on! He tried again with another shot from his other palm. It had the same effect as the last one; It went through the masked man, completely sundering the rest of the tree behind him.

The masked man simply waved his hand in front him. "Your attacks against me are futile. Just come with me quietly."

"Like hell I will." Neji replied coolly and dashed towards him, his right arm already poised to deliver a quick jab to his gut. The moment his palm connected with the man's body, it phased through him, along with the rest of his body, leaving the man completely unharmed. The man turned to looked at Neji, his sharingan eye trained upon him. This, however, didn't keep Neji from sharply spinning on his right heel, his left hand attacking the tenketsu in his chest with a series of finger jabs. Again, those attacks simply phased through his body like nothing was there to begin with. Why were none of his attacks working?

He stepped back for a moment to analyze his opponent. He knew that there had to be some limit to this intangibility of his. His sharingan could also predict his movements, so a straight forward attack would be pointless. For now, he would just have to keep fighting until he could find an opening outside of the man's line of sight where he could land a good hit.

Neji lunged again, his right hand attacking the man's right shoulder with a circular palm strike. Again the attack simply phased through him, but if he could maneuver behind him, the man wouldn't be able to see him or track his movements. However, before he could test his theory, the masked man turned his body a little and caught Neji's wrist in mid-swing as it phased through his body. "You are coming with me now."

Neji didn't even have time to respond before he felt his entire body being sucked in by an unusual vortex. What was happening to him now? Whatever it was, he was helpless as the suction vortex swallowed the rest of his body into nothingness. His last thoughts were about Hinata and how he at least saved her from this man by sending her home.

Once the masked man had finished absorbing Neji, Zetsu appeared next to him from one of the nearby tree trunks. "So are we finished yet, Tobi? The ANBU heard the explosions from the tree trunk not too far away from here and are already almost upon us."

Tobi gazed at the moon once more before answering his question, his body already disappearing into the hole in his mask, "Hai, we have what we came for. Let's go."

Hinata looked out the window from her room in the Hyuuga compound the next morning. She didn't see Neji come home from the attack by the masked man, Tobi, from the akatsuki. She knew that Neji was in trouble, but she knew that she couldn't do anything to help him, especially in her condition.

She knew that he would never let anyone take her away, but she had to look for him to make sure that he was alright; he was her cousin after all. It was time for her to return the favor that Neji had done for her so many times before, even though protecting her was his born duty.

She got up out of her bed, and proceeded to grab the half-empty vial of medicine in the kitchen to drink along the way as she went out to find her teammates. Their tracking abilities could be useful in helping to find him. While she had briefly considered informing her father, Hiashi, as well as the rest of the Hyuuga clan about the matter, she felt confident that it wasn't necessary to bother him unless she knew that he was gone.

She found her two teammates performing their usual duties around the village, which mostly consisted of transporting supplies and the destruction of collapsed buildings.

Kiba, of course was the first to notice her, his extremely acute olfactory senses alerting him of her presence well before he saw her, "Oy, Hinata! I didn't realize that they released you from the hospital! Anyways, how's it goin'? You feelin' any better?" Kiba's over-sized dog, Akamaru, barked his welcome from beside his master.

Shino turned his goggled eyes to face his rather brash teammate, "Of, course she would be feeling better. Why? She has been released from the hospital. Hospitals only release patients when they have mostly recovered from their injuries."

"You know, I didn't really ask you, I asked her." Kiba said referring towards Hinata, his expression clearly annoyed at the bug-user's unnecessary explanation.

"I-it's alright Kiba, I feel fine now." Hinata said with a small smile, not wanting her teammates to start irritating each other as they sometimes did. She continued to the point, "A-anyways, I was hoping I could use your help. I need to find my cousin, Neji. I-I think something might have happened to him, and I need to know if he's ok."

"Neji, eh? Well, I'm sure he's somewhere around here? Why? Wasn't back at home with you?" Kiba asked.

"No, w-well…. He was for a while, but then something happened last night and he went to talk to Shizune somewhere outside the village walls, but I was curious, so I followed him. T-then I saw Neji talking with the masked man, Tobi from the akatsuki, and I tried to follow him when he was escaping, but he told me to go back home and leave the rest to him and the other shinobi. I haven't heard from him since and I'm worried that something has happened to him." Hinata's expression was overcome with anxiety, "Please help me find him. I need to know if he's ok."

"Wait a second, that guy Tobi was here? And you didn't tell anyone!?" Kiba nearly shouted.

"B-but Neji told me that he and the rest of the shinobi would take care of it, a-and I didn't know what to do, so…" she began trailing off, unable to admit out loud that she had made a terrible mistake of letting Neji go on his own. She could feel her confidence dwindling.

Kiba sighed heavily, his hand rubbing the already scruffed up mess of hair on his head "Alright then, listen, we'll help you find Neji, though I'm pretty sure he's still around the village somewhere, but you need to tell someone about what happened last night." Akamaru barked in confirmation.

"If the akatsuki were here, then something big might be happening, especially if it involves someone like Neji. Why? The byakugan is a powerful kekkei genkai. Should it fall into the akatsuki's possession, then they would be even more powerful," Shino decided to add his bit into the conversation.

Hinata nodded slowly, her head hung slightly in shame for her mistake, "OK then, but who should I tell? The Fifth Hokage is not available now."

Shino's responded this time, "Tell the other jounin and the rest of the Hyuuga clan. They might already know from Neji and just didn't tell you yet. Why? They could be trying to deal with the situation as we speak."

"O-ok then. I'll talk to the clan about it," Hinata raised her head

"Right, me and Shino will tell the other jounin about what happened and try to find Neji as we go."

"Arigato Kiba and Shino. It means a lot to me." Hinata turned to leave for the compound. She had quite a bit to explain to her father today.

Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino headed off in the other direction to find the other jounin, including Neji himself.

**AN: I must apologize for updating so late. I just started my first day of college today and I spent the entire weekend prepping for my first semester. Anyways, I hope everyone is in-character enough for you guys. Please R&R! It keeps fanfic writers like me going! ;)**


	5. Chapter 5 The Search

**AN: Hey everyone! Happy Valentines Day! ^.^**

**I cannot apologize enough for being able to post any new chapters for a long time, buts its been really frustrating dealing with writer's block and having to use Wordpad (my Microsoft Word program crashed and I can't get a new one.) so all of my formatting has almost been erased. To top it all off, my computer had crashed as I was typing and I lost a great deal of my chapter! DX**

**I hope this nice, long chapter will be enough to make up for my lack of writing!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. That is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Chapter 5 The Search**

Shino suggested to Kiba that they should first check with Neji's own team to see if he was there along with their jounin-sensei, Gai. When they arrived at the team's training grounds however, Neji wasn't present at all. Instead, Lee and Tenten were both sparring in taijutsu while Gai watched on, encouraging them, "What a spectacular demonstration of my glowing with radiance pupils! Fight with the FULL POWER OF YOUTH!"

Lee responded with the same exuberance as his idol, as he continued to push Tenten back with a flurry of spinning kicks and hard punches, "YES GAI-SENSEI! IF I DO NOT WIN THIS BATTLE IN LESS THAN ONE MINUTE, THEN I WILL DO 500 PUSH-UPS ON MY FINGERS!"

Tenten became irritated at what Lee was indirectly implying, "Hey! Don't take me so lightly! I might not be as good as Neji, but I can still hold my own in a taijutsu battle." She almost took a solid punch to the face, though she managed to pull up her arms in time to protect herself.

It was then that Gai noticed the arrival of team 8's Kiba and Shino flashing them the trademark nice-guy pose. "Greetings, Kiba and Shino! Have you come to join us in a YOUTHFUL sparring session to ignite your FLAMES OF YOUTH!?"

Cue sweat-drop from Kiba, "E-er no, we haven't Gai-sensei, but have you seen Neji lately?"

"Ah, Neji is currently late for our daily training! It is unusual for him to be so late to our practice sessions. He's becoming as hip as my ETERNAL RIVAL, KAKASHI!" Gai exclaimed loudly.

"There have been some problems that have arisen lately concerning Neji's well-being. As Neji's comrades and friends, we must look into this matter," Shino adjusted the glasses on his face, "I have already dispersed my bugs to gather more info around the village. Though I do not doubt their effectiveness in tracking Neji's whereabouts, it would be helpful if you could help us with our search."

"Yea, we decided to tell you 'cause you're his team and all, though I'm pretty sure that my nose would find him before long!" Kiba puffed his chest out in confidence.

Gai put his hands on his hips, and guffawed, "That is the confidence that I like to see in such YOUTHFUL ninja as yourselves! Very well, WE AS NEJI'S TEAMMATES SHALL ASSIST YOU IN YOUR QUEST!" He gave them both the nice-guy pose, his impossibly white teeth blinding both Kiba and Shino, despite the latter wearing dark glasses.

Lee back flipped several times away from his sparring partner, "Yosh! Gai-sensei let us begin our search immediately!"

"As always Lee, your passion burns brighter than anyone! I'm proud to call you my student!" tears were already brimming in eyes of the spandex clad duo as they began their routine hug-fest.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

On cue, a sandy beach suddenly appeared out of nowhere complete with a sunset and rolling waves, startling all members present save for the two spandex-clad beasts and Tenten who simply shook her head and walked away.

The other two ninja were left cringing in aversion, though it was more like Kiba looking away and covering his eyes from such behavior while Shino merely stood there, the insects within him displaying clear agitation at the sudden and unwelcome disturbance in his chakra.

The two green beasts finally released each other after some time, the beach scene disappearing as well as Gai pointed off in the direction of the village, "COME LEE, LET US BEGIN OUR YOUTHFUL SEARCH FOR OUR MISSING TEAMMATE!"

"HAI GAI-SENSEI!"

With that, the two speed off into the distance leaving the two chuunin to eat their dust.

"Cough, cough… Ugh! What the hell is with those guys!? Why do they have to be so weird all the time!?" Kiba sputtered out between his coughs.

Shino didn't even move the entire time, "What about you and Akamaru? Don't you share a close relationship with him? After all, you two are together all the time and act like one-another at times."

"Well yea, but not like that!" Kiba finished his coughing and reached down to pet Akamaru who had laid beside his master in boredom. "We're great buddies, right Akamaru?"

"ARF! ARF!"

"I know right? We're like, the best buddies ever!" Kiba gave a toothy grin.

Shino turned around and started walking away, "We should head back and find the other jounin. With more people looking for him, there is a greater chance that he will eventually be found."

Kiba stood up, "OK, Let's go Akamaru!"

"ARF!" Akamaru stood up as well, letting his partner hop on his back before riding away, with Shino in tow.

Tenten jumped from rooftop to rooftop, scanning the ground for her missing teammate. It didn't seem very strange that Neji didn't show up for training in the morning. As a jounin, he wasn't obligated to train with his team anymore, and he often had special jounin-level missions that required him to leave unexpectedly, sometimes even by himself.

However, if Kiba and Shino had appeared to ask for his whereabouts without Hinata, then she might know a little bit about what happened. It probably wouldn't hurt to pay her a visit, that is, if she was still at the Hyuuga compound. It was more likely though, considering she needed to train more in the Gentle Fist taijutsu to regain her proficiency in the art.

"Hey, Tenten! What's the rush about?!"

Tenten looked below to see Shikamaru in the middle of the street, lazily waving his arm to catch her attention. She dropped to the ground in front of him, "Shikamaru, would you mind helping me out?"

Shikamaru's overly-relaxed posture straightened slightly, his free arm reaching behind his head to support it. "Uh… well, I guess if it isn't too much trouble. What's up?"

"Neji is sort-of missing, and I'm on my way to the compound to talk to Hinata about this. You think you can talk to Shizune or maybe even Shikaku-sama to find out if he had any missions today?"

Shikamaru looked to his side a bit and sighed, rubbing his neck out of habit, "Well, I guess I could."

Tenten smiled in return, "Thanks Shikamaru, it would definitely be helpful to have more people on the lookout for him." She hopped onto the rooftops again and sped off towards the Hyuuga compound.

Shikamaru mumbled to himself as she left, "Geez… I didn't say I would look for him. This is so troublesome."

"Hey Shikamaru!" Shikamaru turned to see Chouji walking up to him, his bag of chips being rapidly depleted of its contents.

"Munch, munch… what's going on Shika?"

"Oh… Tenten was asking me a favor.

"What kind of favor?"

"Well, apparently Neji has been missing for some time and they've been looking for him. I was asked to check with Shizune or my old man to see if he had taken on any missions. Wanna come with?"

"Munch….Sure…..Munch, munch" Chouji replied between bites of his snack. He held out his bag to his best friend in a sharing gesture.

"Nah thanks, I'm cool for right now," Shikamaru smiled good-naturedly, "Alright, let's go. We should talk to Shizune in the hospital since she's closer."

The two leapt onto the rooftops, their destination already in sight.

As usual, the hospital was busy treating the sick and wounded, the place bustling with activity from the fight with Pain. It wasn't pleasant having to be reminded of the destruction and death left by the enemy, and it wasn't right either to feel guilty about being able to do more for the village, but it was all over and in the past. Fortunately, Naruto was there to save them before any more destruction could be inflicted upon the village.

There was a bright spot to all of this, though. Kurenai and her baby had been safely evacuated from the village before Pain had devastated the village with his powerful shockwave technique, and for that he was grateful. He didn't know how he could live with himself if anything ever happened to his sensei's loved ones; he did say that he would take more responsibility for and even become the sensei for his sensei's unborn child.

He forced himself from amidst his thoughts. Right now he needed to find Shizune and ask about Neji's whereabouts.

Fortunately, she wasn't too hard to find, as several helpful medic-nins were able to point them in the direction of her office.

There they found Shizune busy shuffling through a small mess of documents, probably trying to look for something.

"Ahem, Shizune?" Shikamaru cleared his throat to catch her attention.

Shizune looked up at her visitors and gave them a friendly smile, "Oh, hey Shikamaru and Chouji. Did you need something?"

"Yea, we were kind of helping Tenten out right now. Apparently Neji's been absent for some time and we were wondering if you, as the Hokage's assistant, knew if he had been sent on any missions recently.

Shizune took a few seconds to think, before responding, "No, I haven't sent him on any missions recently. Why, Is there a problem?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but if his even his teammates are looking for him and are asking other people to help, then it might be more serious than we think."

Shizune's light expression changed to one of suspicion, "You don't think that he left the village do you?"

This made Shikamaru pause for a few seconds to think, "While it is unlikely that Neji would leave the village without telling either you or his teammates, we can't disregard the idea completely. I think we should gather more information from Tenten to see if we can glean any more information about what's happened to him."

"While it seems like a good idea, I'm currently unable to leave the hospital with you because of the amount people we have that require medical attention, and I have no one to fill my position while I'm gone," Shizune said as she began stacking the cluttered medical sheets together again.

"Maybe I could take over for a little while?"

Everyone on the small room turned to face the familiar voice from outside the doorway.

"Are you sure Sakura? You've already done more than enough around here for me," Shizune asked slightly concerned.

"It's ok Shizune, I'm sure that as a fellow apprentice of Tsunade-sensei that I can handle more than what is necessary for your average medic ninja. It be good practice to spend as much time as possible learning about how to run a large medical facility if I want to become a well-known medic ninja like Tsunade-sensei has."

Shizune sighed briefly and walked up to her, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, and your help is more than welcome. I won't be gone for too long, so that you don't have to work as long as last time."

Sakura bowed slightly to her senior, "Arigato Shizune, I will do my utmost to keep this place running as efficiently as possible."

Shizune turned to the two best friends waiting for her to finish, "OK then, now that I have been freed, we can go sort this out."

"Right, Tenten was headed in the direction of the Hyuuga compound last I saw her, so we might get some answers there," Shikamaru lead the small group out, towards the direction of Tenten and the Hyuuga estate, leaving Sakura to stare at the small mess Shizune had left in her office.

* * *

"Tell us what you saw while you were there, Hinata," Hiashi spoke evenly, "You say this occurred after I had left for the Council meeting?" Tenten who had caught up to Hinata before, was also listening for what happened to her teammate.

"H-hai Oto-sama. When Shizune-san had finished examining me, she pulled Neji outside of the compound to speak with him about something privately. I was curious, but also worried too, so I followed him just in case, making sure that they couldn't sense my presence. When they had stopped outside the village walls in a small clearing, Shizune-san was transforming into this white body with green hair and yellow eyes. I-It was so disturbing and I have never seen anything like it before in my life. Then this masked man from the akatsuki appeared out of thin air right beside the transformed man. Clones of the white man started appearing from the trees around the area completely surrounding him."

Hiashi's brows furrowed slightly at this, Tenten's expression showing slight concern at the notion of her teammate being ambushed when she wasn't around, she was usually always there to cover for his blind spot, but this apparently wasn't the case.

"They talked about something for a little while and Neji attacked him and ran away. Thats when I came up to him and asked what had happened. He told me to come back to the compound and let the rest of the shinobi take care of it, so I came back. Now that he's gone, I realize should have stayed with him and-"

"No, Neji fulfilled his duty as a branch member to protect you from falling into enemy hands, however, I am disappointed in you for not notifying either the elders or any other shinobi of the situation upon your return."

Hinata's gaze fell even farther at her father's harsh words. "H-Hai, Oto-sama. I promise it will never happen again."

"You are forgiven. This matter will need to be reported to the Council as soon as possible." Hiashi's byakugan activated at that moment before he could leave, Hinata activating her byakugan as well.

"We have company. Be on guard at all times Hinata, we do not want another incident like this to occur again."

"Hai, Oto-sama," Hinata and Tenten followed the clan head to the main gate

* * *

The three visitors did not have to wait very long before they were met by Hiashi who was accompanied by his daughter and Tenten.

The elder ninja spoke up, his formal tone laced with a slight undertone of hostility, "State your business with the Hyuuga"

The older of the three visiters spoke up,"Hiashi-sama, my comrades and I have recently heard of the incedent that has arisen with Neji and we wish to help"

Hinata's eyes furrowed slightly at the sight of one of them, byakugan activated "Should we trust them Oto-sama?"

Hiashi's reply was brief, but sharp, "For now, Hinata."

"I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama, is there something that we have done to cause such distrust with you?"

Hiashi turned away, "Everything will be explained inside."

* * *

Shizune and her two companions were shuffled inside. Shikamaru and Chouji had never really been in side the Hyuuga compound before, so they curious when they saw the interior, which was filled with many various paintings and pottery, all which looked very expensive.

The three were lead into a small room, Hiashi turning to meet them once they were inside.

"This room has a barrier jutsu set up within it that only the Hyuuga know of so that no other person can look into it, nor look into it. We can discuss to you here the reason for our...distrust."

The trio were then filled in on the details of Neji's kidnapping. Of course, Shizune, when she heard of the news, was more empathetic of their situation after listening them. Shikamaru had a more serious look on his face, but it was still noticeable how much of a bother this was to him. Chouji, being the more sensitive of the three looked a bit more worried, though he kept a calm composure in front of the Hyuuga Head.

It was quiet for a few moments before Shizune decided to speak up, "I understand now, and I am willing to prove my innocence in this matter."

She carefully stepped back from the small group, pulling out a small kunai from her small pouch on her back, and placing it against her forearm. Taking care not to make a mess of herself, she dug the blade into her skin and pulled it across, leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake which trickled down her arm slowly. After placing the kunai into her mouth, she raised up her hand, which had started glowing green from the medic-nin signature, mystical palm healing technique. She placed her palm on her forearm and the cut closed itself up, stopping any more bleeding.

Shizune raised her arm up, revealing skin that looked as it had never been broken, despite the small trickle of blood that had dried in her arm.

"As you can see, I am able to use healing techniques, something that only another medic-nin could use."

Hiashi and the others stood quietly for a while, though Hiashi spoke for them, "Hmmm...your actions have proven yourself to be a medic-nin. I believe that we can trust you for now, though you will have to explain yourself again to the Council when this situation is brought up."

Shizune bowed lightly in gratitude, "Thank you for believeing me, Hiashi-sama. Your trust is very valuable to me after knowing what has taken place earlier."

Shizune then turned to the other three in their midst, "I'm assuming that the other three of you will be able to vouch for yourselves with your family techniques?"

"Hai, Shizune-san," Shikamaru replied for the other three chuunin present, "I'm very sure that we would be able to perform our respective signature techniques."

Hiashi spoke up to the group," It is decided then. I will inform the Council of the recent events. I woud advise you not to further involve yourselves in this matter any more than already have until the Council has come to a decision on how to deal with his disappearance."

"Hai, Hiashi-sama. We will indeed take heed to your words," Shizune replied for the group once more, "If you will excuse us, I do believe that I will be needed back at the Hospital."

Shikamaru rubbed his neck once again, "Yea, I think we should probably tell our parents about this since they'll be going to the council meeting too, eh Chouji?"

"I guess so."

Hiashi turned to the door to lead them out, "Very well, then. Your help has been greatly appreciated. Hopefully this matter will be resolved soon."

The three left the Hyuuga compound, each going their separate ways, hoping that the Hyuuga clan leader's parting words would be true.

Hinata turned to her father, "You think Neji will be alright, Oto-sama?"

Hiashi sighed, while he was confident in his nephew's ability to survive on his own, it troubled him that the clan's most gifted member was likey involved with the Akatsuki.

"As a gifted member of the Hyuuga clan, I believe that he is perfectly capable of surviving by himself, but it troubles me to know that the Akatsuki have taken a sudden interest in him; it makes things a bit complicated."

He turned to his daughter, "However, I would insist that you do not dwell on it too much and instead focus on catching up with your usual training excercises and fully recovering."

Hinata nodded her head and left to do as he said, leaving the clan head to his thoughts.

What is it that the Akatsuki would want with a branch member of the Hyuuga clan?

**AN: Thank you guys for reading! PLEASE leave a review cause it helps me crank out chapters much faster. It could say anything really, as long as I know that someone out there appreciates my hard work. It's so hard to write when no one is willing to support me :(**


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